


Riverside

by Dresdendiva



Series: Aftermath [1]
Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4782626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresdendiva/pseuds/Dresdendiva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Thanagarian Invasion Bruce and Wally have a talk</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riverside

**Author's Note:**

> Absolutely nothing to do with Rivers

"I believe Master Wallace may require some...consoling" 

Bruce looked up from the computer, he was writing a program to track the movement and/or use of any Thanagarian technology. Alfred had chosen his words carefully, something he did when he knew something Bruce didn't. 

"Wally is still here?"

After the vote Bruce immediately went down to the cave, there was too much work be done. He'd just assumed everyone had gone their own way to face their feelings. 

"Yes Sir. In the first floor entertainment room. I thought he might be interested in Master Timothy's video game collection." 

Bruce said nothing, turning to face the computer again. Alfred cleared his throat loudly. 

"I believe Master Wallace is in need of some consoling."

"I heard you the first time Alfred."

Alfred let out a sharp tsk and turned on his heel to climb the stairs.  
Two hours later hunger got the best of Bruce. Realizing that he hadn't eaten much since the night of the invasion. Alfred was normally on top of this kind of thing. He'd bring food and drink and pain killers, finding things to fuss about in the Cave in order to keep an eye on Bruce, but he hadn't been back since he'd come down to tell him about...Wally! Bruce cursed under his breath, cursed himself and hurried up the stairs as fast as his battered body would allow. 

When he reached the kitchen, Alfred looked up from one of the six cakes he appeared to be frosting.

 "Your dinner is in the first floor entertainment room."  
Bruce cursed himself again. 

"I'm sorry Alfred." 

 Alfred's face softened "I don't think it's me you owe an apology." 

Bruce nodded and started his way to the entertainment room. Wally was laying on the sofa furthest from the door, a pair of large noise canceling earphones on. He seemed to be chewing on a red rubber stick of some kind. Not even attempting to be stealthy, Bruce approach the edge of the sofa. Wally noticed him with a start, in a blur he was sitting up, feet planted firmly on the floor, headphones pushed down around his neck.

 "Aww jeez, I'm sorry Bats. I mean Bruce. I didn't mean to over stay my welcome. I just I-" 

Wally was blushing slightly as he stumbled over his words, he looked ready to bolt. That was the opposite of what Bruce wanted. He reached out, grabbing Wally's arm firmly, planting himself on the sofa. Wally went full deer-in-the-headlights, staring open mouthed at Bruce. 

"Imsorry!" He spat out almost too fast to comprehend. 

Bruce shook his head.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about Wally. You're welcome in my home."

 He inhaled slowly, it was easier for him to apologize to Alfred, he'd been doing it his entire life. Wally looked relived, some of the tension draining out of his body. 

"Wally. I'm..." He let the breath out slowly,  buying as much time as possible.  "I'm sorry."  
   
Wally started drumming his free hand against the arm of the sofa, his other still trapped in Bruce's grip. 

"Why?"  
A heavy question. So many ways he had or would hurt or fail Wally.  
"About Shayera, The Watchtower, if you feel I violated your privacy."  
Wally let out a strange snort, Bruce took it as a laugh.  

"She's alive, she can come back if she wants. Just because you voted to boot her, doesn't make her leaving your fault somehow. If I was worried about my privacy being violated I wouldn't spend any time near you at all."

Another snorting laugh. "John asked me my favorite ice cream flavor once and I said 'I can't remember, ask Bats I'm sure he's got it on file somewhere!'" He smiled, reaching out his free hand to rest it over Bruce's. 

"And...The only thing I was worried about losing in the tower is right here." Wally opened his mouth to say something else, but took a deep breath instead. 

They were quiet for a few moments, surrounded by the grey darkness of dusk.

 "I've been in here all day. Since she left. I've had a lot of time to think about it all, she wants to be a alone for a while. I don't understand that. I hate to be alone. I just-I." 

The finger drumming again.  
 "I've been thinking so much, about the team, about the invasion, when we were in the other world with the-the Lords." 

The last word a whisper. Bruce tensed, wondering what Wally could be trying to get out.  

"He...The other you, when I made the heart monitor flat line, he came running with this look on his face and I didn't..."

 The drumming was so fast Wally's hand was a blur and the sound a steady buzz. 

"I didn't understand."

Bruce knew, he understood. The same feeling when his parents died. The same feeling when he lost Jason. The almost paralyzing horror, the gripping in his chest barley a warning of the heartache to come.

 Alone in the batmobile with himself in the wake of that feeling, the other Batman had confessed. 

"I love- I loved him. Maybe you don't, maybe you won't, maybe you can't be honest with him or with yourself. I did love him and I failed him and he died never knowing. He wouldn't stand for what we've become. If you're prepared to be even a little bit honest with yourself don't push him away. Don't let him watch you become something like me."  
 Lorder Batman's hands tightened into fist around the steering wheel.   
"Learn from all of my mistakes." 

"I understand now." Wally spoke suddenly, breaking Bruce from his memories.

"Do you?" Bruce eyed him steadily 

Wally leaned in slowly, very much in Bruce's personal space. The press of Wally's lips against his jaw, the drag of them against the stubble on Bruce's chin suggested he understood more than Bruce suspected.

It was so easy for Bruce turn his head a fraction of an inch and catch Wally's lips with his own, so easy to pull him into his lap, to wrap his arms around the inhuman warmth, to let himself slip into the silent comfort of their kiss.  
Wally pulled away gasping for air. 

His exspression was uncharacteristically serious, a sudden and tight grip on Bruce's shoulders. 

"You are not responsible for me, you are not at fault for what happens to me out there, for what happens in the future or in other worlds. My life is not a burden for you to carry." 

Bruce tightened his own grip on Wally's hips. 

"But what if I want to be, what if I can't help but carry that?" 

Bruce's voice was a little louder than he intended, Wally couldn't just make himself unimportant, couldn’t pull up the roots he'd planted in the hearts and lives of people he came in contact with. Couldn't make Bruce stop loving him. 

"Then you have to promise me it's one you can carry without breaking, I don't want to be that straw, I don't want my recklessness to be something that destroys all of the hard work we've done." 

Silence again, still holding on to one another a little tighter than was comfortable for either. 

"I thought I was different, better than he was. Calmer, more logical. Because I didn't feel the way he did. I can't say that about myself anymore. He couldn't anticipate you and I can't anticipated what you'll do to me. "  
Wally stares back at him, confusion clear in eyes, his serious expression slipping into a loose smile. "I didn't do enough thinking to continue this argument, but it's fine cus I'm not gonna die anyway. I'm the fastest man alive." 

"Wally."  Bruce had been more open with Wally in the last 45 minutes than he had been with anyone in years, he'd exsposed too much emotion, too much uncertainty, he'd practically declared his love and still he wanted to keep spilling his feelings. 

To tell Wally he was serious when he'd said it was an honor working with him, to tell him he did know moose tracks was Wally's favorite kind of ice cream. More than that he wanted to kiss him again, return that breathlessness, to make that flush spread. Wally was still staring at him, green eyes dark in the low lighting. 

Warm hands slid up his shoulders, Wally shifting in his lap until they were as pressed together as the could be. Forehead to forehead Wally finally spoke again, that same loose smile on his face. "I understand." And he was kissing him again.


End file.
